Ice boat and breaker



' (No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

S. RICHARDS. ICE BOATAND BREAKER.

No. 245,316. Patented Aug. 9,1881.

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(No Model.) 3 SheetsSneet 2.

S. RICHARDS.

10E BOAT AND BREAKER.

No. 245,316. Patented Aug. 9,1881.

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3 SheetsSheet 3.

(Nd Model.)

I S. RICHARDS. 10E BOAT AND BREAKER.

Patented Aug. 9, 1881.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL RICHARDS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ICE BOAT AND BREAKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 245,316, dated August 9, 1881,

Application filed December 9, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL RICHARDS, of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful apparatus for opening a channel for the passage of boats through ice on rivers and other navigable waters, of which invention the following is a specification.

Heretofore ice-boats have been of especially massive construction and have required immense power to drive them, and withal have been only partially successful in keeping navigation open in freezing weather.

In operating boats of the kind last referred to, they are butted against the fastice, crushing it down and then passing over it, thereby breaking it into pieces, which oftentimes damages the boats wheels or impede their revolution, and clog the rudder. The channel thus formed by the boat is filled with broken ice, which obstructs the passage of other boats following along the same track. When the mass of broken ice is again frozen the difficulty of breaking a way through it isincreased. This is owing to the fact that the pieces into which the ice has been broken sometimes freeze together and form thick blocks.

Ice-breakers have been described as having a deflected frame, provided with fingerbeams on the sides of said frame, and extending in front to rest upon the upper surface of the ice before it has been out, said fin ger-beams being provided with cutting-teeth in plates fastened on the side of and extending lower than said finger-beams. This device operates somewhat like a plowshare, and is supposed to turn the ice aside as soon as it has been cut, but it has no special device to divide the whole breadth of the separated ice in two or more parts, while my device lifts the ice'above the level of the unbroken ice and divides it before attempting to turn it aside. Other icecutters, described as shares, have been provided with a series of parallel serrated cutters upon the upper surface of said shares to divide the ice into small pieces in front of the boats path.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a plan, and Fig. 2 a side elevation, of the bow portion of a steamboat with my said apparatus affixed to it. Fig. 3 is a cake of ice showing the angular scores r and 8 formed in its upper and under surfaces by the upper scorers, tand t, and

the under scorers, m and m, operating in advance of the inclined platform. Fig. 4: is aplan of a detached portion of the apparatus, the arrangement of the bars being modified. Fig. 5 is an end view of the inclined platform. a represents the bow of the boat. I) b 1) form a strong frame, of wood or iron, the beams I) being rigidly fastened by means of straps or eyes 0 c and keys or bolts to a shaft, 0?, which turns in a socket, c, which is secured to the deck of the boat by flanges and bolts f, Fig. 1. The shaft d projects over the sides of the boat, as shown in Fig. 1, so thatthe wholelength of said shaft exceeds the width of the boat at her widest part. The rear ends of the beams I) rest against the abutments g, which are bolted to the sides of the boat. Iron bars h are permanently fastened on the top of the frame I) b b", forming an open flat grating or platform without sides-that is to say, free from side obstructions or projections on its top surface above the water line-said platform being arranged at a convenient inclination of about twenty-five degrees, as shown. t is a wedgeshaped structure, built on the frame I) b b and bolted to the timbers of said frame.

The wedge 'i maybe builtof boiler-iron or of wood faced with iron, and it has a sharp cutting front edge. j is a removable deflector, preferably made of boiler-iron. It turns on a short shaft, 7t, Fig. 2, and extends diagonally toward one side or the other of the platform, as required, (see Fig. 4,) being held by an adjustable rod, l, in the position in which it is set.

m and m are steel under scorers, adjustably bolted to inverted runners n n, which are flexibly attached to similar bell-cranks pivoted on the timbers b of the platform-frame, respectively. One of said cranks (marked 0) is shown in Fig. 2. Said cranks are attached by rods (one of which, marked 1), is shown in Fig. 2) to levers, respectively, (one of which, marked q, is shown in Fig. 2,) whichlevers are rigidly attached to a cross-shaft, (indicated at r,) from which shaft o a handle, 8, projects up to be operated from the deck of the boat at will.

if and t are steel upper scorers, bolted adjustably to the ends of the arms a and u, respectively, as shown in Fig. 2; and t is asimilar scorer, attached to the middle of the armbraces, as shown in Fig. 1. The scorers tt i are provided with the runners o, c, and c The arms u and u are united and stiifened by braces w, Fig. 1, and said arms are rigidly attached t0 the cross-shaft it, which is supported by two similar standards, y, one of which is best shown in Fig. 2. z is a bifurcated lever, forming a part of the cross-shaft x, embracing a nut, a, through which works a screw-rod, 0 Fig. 2, operated by a ratchet and lever, (1 the effect of which is to lower or raise said arms and with them the upper scorers, t, t, and t, as required.

It will be noticed that the scorers m m and t t 1. are projected forward, so as to score the ice some distance in advance of the inclined platform. This is particularly important in cutting a channel through fast ice, on account of the tendency of the ice to break into floes of irregular shape if it is not scored before the inclined platform begins to break it and raise it up out of the water.

0 is a strong hook, secured to the frame of the inclined platform.

f is a chain, one end of which is attached to the hook e Said chain passes over a friction-pulley, 9 on the top of the post 70, and is attached to a drum, h carrying a cog-wheel, 1', which is operated by means of the worm j for raising and lowering the inclined platformframe and its fixed attachments, as required.

m is a water-tight float, constructed either of wood or iron, extending across the entire width of the inclined platform, under the front portion of the same, and kept in place when the said platform is lowered down to the water for work by heavy bolts n, Fig. 1, dropped through holes formed for that purpose in the timbers of the inclined platform, into sockets in the float. The object of the float is to help support the inclined platform-frame when raising heavy ice. When the inclined platformframe is to be raised up the bolts n are first removed and the float is secured by a tow-line in the rear of the boat, to which place it has been swung around.

1), Fig. 2, is a rudder, applied to the bow of the boat and operated by chains and a wheel (not shown) in the usual manner.

g is a steel bar fixed on the inclined platform, the front of which bar projects beyond the front edge of the platform, as shown in Fig. 4. This bar assists in breaking the ice as it comes up on the inclined platform.

When a channel is to be cut through fast ice exceeding about six inches thickness scorers m m and t t t are brought into use. The ice, being thus grooved in the manner shown in Fig. 3, is by the forward movement of the boat broken into pieces, which are forced up the inclined platform until they come in contact with the sides of the wedge t, which discharge them with considerable impetus on either side of the boats channel, the channel being left clear of ice.

When the boat is running through floating ice or through fast ice not exceeding about six inches in thickness it is not necessary to use the upper scorers, t t t, which are then raised up clear of the ice by means ofthe screw 0 and ratchet 61, operating through the arms to and to. When the boat is running through water free from ice the platfornrframe can be raised up out of the water. To this end the inclined platform b is shown to be made open by the use of bars h, and I prefer this form of construction; but a similar result may be effected by using, instead of the bars, perforated iron plates or heavy woven wire.

Instead of making the inclined platform open by the use of bars or their equivalents, as described, the frame of the platform may be sheathed over with plank or iron plates; but in such case the water would be more or'less carried up the platform, and would thus increase the pressure on the platform and impede the progress of the boat.

For operating in floating ice of less than four inches thickness the arms u and u, the upper scorers, t t V, and the screw device for raising and lowering said arms may be dispensed with.

When it is desired to throw to one side of the boat all the ice raised by the inclined platform the defiectori is hung in place on the shaft and adjusted diagonally across the platform toward either side thereof, as required and as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The oflice of the bow-rudder p" is to assist in holding the boat to her work when it is required to widen the channel previously cut in the ice, and to throw on the fast-ice side of the boat all the ice taken up by the platform.

The inclined platform is built of such length that its fore end projects into the water under the body of the ice to be removed from the channel. Thus, if the apparatus is designed for use on ice of any thickness up to a foot in thickness, the platform should be built so that its foremost front edge shall, when the boat is in operation, be not less than a foot in perpendicular measurement under the top surface of the water from which the ice has been removed.

I have described said apparatus as being applied to a boats bow, by which term bow) I mean the attacking end of the boat, or that end which is put foremost when the boat is in use.

I claim 1. For the purpose of forming an open channel for the passage of boats through ice on rivers and other navigable waters, the combination, with the bow of a steamboat, of an in clined flat platform for raising the ice out of the water, and the wedge-shaped device i for directing the raised ice aside on the top of the adjacent ice, substantially as set forth.

2. The adjustable lower scorers, m and m, in combination with devices, substantially as described, for raisin'g and lowering the same, for the purpose of scoring the under surface of the ice in advance of the front edge of the inclined platform, substantially as set forth.

3. The adjustable upper scorers, t, t, and t,

and the adjustable lower scorers, m and m, in

combination with devices for raising and lowerin g the same for the purpose of scoring the upper and under surfaces of the ice simultaneously in advance of the front edge of the inclined platform, substantially as set forth.

4. The detachable swinging deflector j, in combination with the inclined platform, and the wedget' for the purpose of throwing on either side at will all the ice raised by said platform, substantially as set forth.

5. In combination with frame I) b I) and the bars h, forming an open inclined flat platform, the float m for assisting to support said platform, substantially as set forth.

Witnesses:

S. BARTRAM Rrcnanns, J. HOWARD BING. 

